This blog covers all things baseball in 1977. Baseball cards from that year is a main focus of the site.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

1977 Topps Baseball #14 - Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith had a five-year major league career. This was his only card.

Smith was a fifth-round pick of the Cleveland Indians in 1970

Tommy was in the minors for at least part of every season from 1970-1977. He never batted below .263 and had a lifetime minor league batting average of .311. He was mostly a singles and doubles hitter and had some occasional power.

Smith was a September call-up in 1973 and batted .244 in 14 games.

Tommy started the 1974 season in AAA and was called up in August. He batted .097 in 31 at bats for the Indians.

Smith was a September call-up again in 1975 and went 1 for 8 (.125) in limited action with the Indians

In 1976 Tommy started in AAA and came up to the Indians in July. He batted .256 in 55 games.

Smith was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the expansion draft. He made the club in 1977 and was used mostly as a late inning defensive replacement. Smith shuttled between Seattle and AAA Rochester. Rochester was the affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, but the Mariners didn't have a full system yet so some of their minor leaguers were loaned to other organizations.

1977 Stats: Went 7 for 27 (.259) with 0 HR and 4 RBI. Batted .284 in 47 games for AAA Rochester.